


Bodyguard

by Tarenee



Category: Transformers: Beast Wars
Genre: Beast Wars - Freeform, Cybertron, Earth, Gen, Humans, Maximals, Predacons, Time Travel, Transformers - Freeform, Violence, golden disc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-05-08
Packaged: 2020-01-12 09:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18443849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarenee/pseuds/Tarenee
Summary: Dinobot is unwillingly ordered to be the bodyguard of a human girl but he soon finds out she's more trouble than she's worth. Will he learn to tolerate her or will he wind up killing her before then?  (Story originally posted on fanfiction.net from 2007 to 2008.)





	1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Riiiiiiiiiing!

The school bell rang signaling the end of another school day. Yume stopped doodling on her algebra paper and quickly gathered her books together, being sure to stow the doodle in the back pocket of her backpack. She quickly made her way out of the classroom and into the hall before the teacher could call to her to stay. She headed to her locker and stowed her books in it then locked the door and headed outside. She was in a hurry to get home and finish the sketches she was working on for something in art class, as well as finishing the math homework she forgot to do the night before and that night's as well.

She headed down the front steps and made her way down the sidewalk as fast as she could. She knew she had to hurry before her tormentors, the three people that always seemed to think it was their duty in life to make her miserable, figured out where she was. She decided to take the shortcut through the park and turned left at the end of the block, looking both ways before she crossed the street. Once there she walked for a bit then looked around to make sure she hadn't been followed. She hadn't. She sighed in relief and stopped in her tracks.

They won't find me here... she thought, sitting down on a bench by the fountain and pulling out her sketch book.

She flipped to the picture she'd been working on, pulled out her pencil, and started to finish the sketch, trying her best to remember all the details. "All I have to do is-"

"Working on your lame art again, nerd?" a voice demanded.

Yuma looked up from her sketch and found herself staring into the faces of her three tormentors, Samantha, Paris, and Lenore, three blond preppies who thought they were the best looking girls in the whole school. Yume thought they looked like plastic clones. "What do you guys want?" she demanded, glaring up at the three girls.

"What's that?" Paris asked, snatching the sketch away from Yume and looking at it. "What the hell? This thing is ugly! What is it supposed to be?"

"It's a robot!" Yume replied, getting up and trying to grab the sketch back. "Now give it back!"

Paris held it just out of her reach. "What kind of robot?" she asked, turning the page upside down. "It looks like it's trying to be a dinosaur."

"It's a dinosaur droid!" Yume exclaimed. "That's why!"

"What's a dinosaur droid?" Lenore asked.

"Nothing you three have ever heard of," the girl replied, getting her hand on the edge of the pad and pulling it toward herself. "Now let go!"

Paris didn't loosen her grip on the book and Yume heard a loud riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip before she fell back, holding the bottom half of the picture she'd been drawing. She looked at the picture, only spotting legs. "Now look what you've done!" she exclaimed.

"Serves you right," Paris sniffed, tossing the rest of the pad at the girl's feet. "You shouldn't have tried to pull it away." The girls turned to go. "See you around, loser."

Yume held back tears as she picked up the pad and fitted the ripped part back onto the paper. "I'm going to have to fix this when I get home," she said, standing up and stuffing the sketchbook into her backpack. She brushed a strand of black hair out of her gray eyes and started walking, stepping into the small wooded path to get out of the sun and away from anyone before they could see her cry.

"Why do they have to be that way?" she asked, wiping her eyes as she leaned against a tree. "I never did anything to them and they constantly have to get on my case about things I like! Maybe it's because most things I like are considered something only guys would like. Well that's not true. Girls can like robots too!" She wiped her eyes again then pushed herself away from the tree, telling herself that she really needed to get home.

Re-adjusting the strap on her backpack she headed down the path, not really paying attention to where she was going. Suddenly her black booted foot hit something and she was sent sprawling. "Ow!" she wailed, landing on her stomach. "That hurt." she pushed herself into a sitting position. "What was that?" she looked over her shoulder and saw something metallic glittering under the dirt. "Huh? What's that?" she sat up and started unearthing the object. She picked it up and took a look at it.

It looked like some sort of metal cube. It was a shiny black color and one side held a small red button like object. It reminded her of a rubix cube. "Who would bury such a thing here?" she asked herself out loud. "I wonder if some kids decided to play scavenger hunt." she looked around and chuckled to herself, feeling a little mean because of the mood the preps had put her in. "I think I'll ruin their fun."

She started to put the cube in her backpack when her finger accidentally pushed in the red button. She heard a beeping sound and felt the cube whirring in her hand. She froze then brought the thing back to her face. The cube was suddenly glowing in different colors. What in the world?

Suddenly a void in space tore the air open and, before Yume could do anything or move, she was sucked in and darkness overtook her.

When Yume opened her eyes she found herself in a strange environment. It looked nothing like the park where she'd been standing only a few minutes ago. The trees were too tall and close together. Where am I? she thought, sitting up and looking around. What happened? How did I get here? Her eyes fell on the rubix cube looking item she'd unearthed in the park. It glowed with a bluish light then went dark, returning to its normal colors and features. "What in the world?" she reached down and picked it up, giving the item a good look. It seemed like a normal rubix cube to her, minus the colors. But why did it glow like that and why did it distort everything and bring me here? she looked around herself again. "Where am I anyway? The Redwood Forest in California?" she stood up and pulled her backpack back on, which lay on the grass beside her. "I guess I'd better get going. If I find a clearing maybe I'll try to call home and see if anyone can come get me or something..." she started walking.

About a half hour later she exited the forest and found herself staring at a strange landscape. "What in the world?" she exclaimed, staring at the geography. "Did I land in the Savannah?" she looked around herself a little slower and spotted snow capped mountains as well as an ocean far off in the distance. These things told her she wasn't in Africa or anywhere near it. "But where am I really?" she asked herself. "And how did I get here?" she looked at the object in her hand. "Was I abducted by aliens?"

Suddenly a screeching sound from above startled her out of her thoughts. She looked into the sky and spotted a giant red dinosaur-like bird flying above her. "What the heck?!" she exclaimed. "Dinosaurs!?" The dinosaur spotted her and something strange suddenly happened to it. It seemed to change form and took on a more metallic humanoid shape. "What the heck?! Robot dinosaurs?!"

The robot dino beast let out another screeching sound and Yume spotted two red bolts of light coming at her. Before she could figure out what they were, the bolts hit the ground at her feet and exploded, sending her sailing through the air. She screamed until she landed on her stomach on the ground, the wind being knocked out of her. She grabbed her stomach and gasped for air as she sat up, looking into the sky for the robot. That thing shot at me! She spotted two more bolts of light coming toward her and scrambled to her feet, getting out of their way as fast as she could.

The ground behind her exploded and she was once again sent sailing. This time she landed behind some rocks that served as protection from the fire power for the moment. She sighed and pushed herself back to her feet, only to find herself face to face with a giant wasp!

"Aaaaaaaaah!" she screamed, scrambling backward as fast as she could. "Mutant bee!"

"Mutant bee? Where?" the wasp said, looking back and forth. "Waspinator sees no bee."

"Oh my god! A talking bee!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and running. "I gotta get out of here!"

"Wait!" the wasp called to her. "Waspinator wants to know where bee is!" she heard a metallic noise behind her and looked over her shoulder just in time to see the big wasp turn into a robot.

She screamed again and ran faster. "This is insane!" she exclaimed. "Robotic flying dinosaurs! Giant talking wasp robots! What next? Talking spider robots?!"

"I don't know," said a voice to her left. The girl looked over to a rock formation and spotted a giant magenta and yellow tarantula climbing on the rocks. It was way too big to be a normal one "What would you do if you saw one?" then that bug transformed too!

"Oh my god!" she gasped.

The spider robot laughed then shot something at her.

The girl screamed and ducked, avoiding the projectile by inches. She looked in the direction it had gone and spotted a blue and white spider web stuck to a rock. Only one conclusion came to mind at that. "It's going to eat me!" she shrieked, changing course. "I've got get out of here!"

She jumped over some rocks and started running in a different direction. She heard that flying robot dinosaur screeching something above her and looked back just in time to see the robots vaulting over the rocks she'd just jumped over. "What's with these things?" she asked herself out loud. "Don't they have something else to do?" she looked around for a place to hide.

Suddenly the ground came to an end and Yume stopped just in time to avoid falling off a cliff. "Whoa!" she exclaimed, flailing her arms to keep her balance. "That's some drop!"

She heard that robot bird again and looked back the way she had come. The three insane robots were closing in and the girl had nowhere to run. "Oh crap," she moaned, looking around for options. "What am I going to do now?"

The robots were getting closer. She really didn't want to get shot at by them or eaten by the spider but what was she going to do? She looked down at the drop again then back at the robots, weighing her options. Get her guts sucked out by a robot spider or fall to her death? If it wasn't her she probably wouldn't have chosen the latter. She looked at the robots one last time then took a deep breath, turned around, and jumped!

How long she fell she didn't know but just when she thought she'd fall forever she landed on something. Something that let out a pained sound when her weight was added to it. Yume froze for a moment, gasping for breath and surprised that she was still alive then opened one eye. A big white eye with a cat pupil stared into her own. A tiny scream escaped her throat and she moved her head back. Now she saw that the owner of the eye was a raptor!

The girl screamed loud and long. The raptor made another sound and jerked violently. Yume fell off its back and when her rear hit the ground she scrambled backward using her feet and elbows until her back ran into a rock and she couldn't go back anymore. She stared in fear at the raptor as it seemed to get over being deafened and stared over at her. Her heart almost stopped at the piercing glare it shot at her.

Then. It spoke! "What in the inferno are you?!" it demanded in a growling, demonic voice.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, putting a hand over her heart. "It can talk too!"

The raptor seemed to be unable to think of anything to say to that. Instead it demanded again. "What are you?" and this time when it demanded this it got closer, looming over her.

"I...," the girl stammered, her heart pounding in her chest. "I... I-'m a g-girl..."

"A girl?!" it said, giving her another piercing look. "You..." it stopped a moment then came to a conclusion. "You are a human, are you not?" it asked in a tone that made it sound like he was stating fact instead of asking a question.

"Y... yes," she said.

"What is a human doing here?" the raptor asked itself, seemingly ignoring her a moment. "It is not time for them to be..." he looked back at her. "How did you get here?"

"I... Don't eat me!" she exclaimed when its face got too close.

"Eat you?!" it exclaimed, giving her a look that made her think it thought she was stupid. "I am not going to eat you, fool!" it made a snarling sound and its face got even closer.

Yume flinched and closed her eyes, putting her arms over her head to protect herself. Just perfect! I made it mad!  
A clawed hand wrapped around her wrist and she felt herself being pulled to her feet. For a moment she let her weight take over and her balance was off then she finally decided not to do anything to make it madder and placed her foot solidly on the ground before openingher eyes as the raptor let her go. "Th...thank you...," she stammered, staring at the raptor's brown and tan face.

It made a low guttural sigh then turned to go. "I-" it began but was interrupted by a screeching sound above.

The two looked into the sky and the girl spotted the flying dinosaur bird -robot hovering above.

"A Predacon!" the raptor exclaimed then suddenly changed shape. Yume watched it transform into a giant brown, gold, silver, and blue robot that pulled out a long silver drill-like sword. It looked down at her and when she saw its red eyes boring into her, she screamed in fear and ran behind some rocks out of terror. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm as she started to shiver. "Everything is a robot here!"

She heard explosions and laser noises from the other side of the rock, just then, and chanced a peek.

The raptor robot was shooting green lasers from his eyes and trying to hit the flying dinosaur robot who avoided all the beams. It laughed insanely and shot at the raptor robot who dodged. As Yume watched she silently cheered on the raptor for some weird reason, probably because he hadn't tried to eat or shoot at her. When the flying robot started shooting again she ducked back behind the rock.

This is bad! she thought, listening to the two fight. If that flying wacko wins, I'm dead, and if that roboraptor wins I'm dead as well. What am I going to do? I hope neither win. she sighed. "But what can I do?"

BOOOMM!

An explosion sent debris falling behind the rock where she was sitting. She screamed and covered her head to protect it. She heard a grunt, then that laser sound again, then a squawking sound. She didn't know what had happened and wasn't about to look. She didn't know who had won and didn't care. If she had any luck they'd blown up each other and she'd only have to worry about that giant wasp and spider. She decided to wait a few minutes before she started moving again, just to make sure the monsters were truly gone. Then, just as she was about to open her eyes and get going, a hand reached down and grabbed her arm. She felt clawed fingers dig into her flesh and she screamed with fear and pain as she was yanked out of her hiding place.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" she screeched, struggling against the hold. She swung her leg and it came in contact with something metallic. A loud clanging noise filled the air then a growl. The growl she recognized, even though she would have preferred not to.

She opened her eyes and stared into the blue frowning face of the transforming roboraptor. She started to whimper as he glared at her then pleaded. "Please don't kill me..."

"I am not going to kill you," he said, his voice full of annoyance. "You would not even be worth the trouble it would take to run you through." he made that noise again. "Killing you would be as satisfying as playing tag.."

"Then what are you going to do to me?" she asked. Yume saw sparks flying from his left shoulder and he flinched. "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"It is not serious," he said. "but I should get it fixed anyway." he started moving, still grasping her arm.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked, watching the ground fly by below her.

"To someone who will know what to do with you..."


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

After what seemed like forever Yume and the robo-raptor came upon what looked like some kind of space craft. The girl looked up at the dark metal machine and started to dread what might be inside. She wanted to ask about the ship and stuff but the raptor intimidated her too much and she was afraid to ask. She didn't know how he'd answer her and didn't really want to know. I just hope it's not full of more shape shifting robots or... giant bugs... or worse... more of his kind! The very idea caused her to start making a loud, very obnoxious whining sound. The robot looked at her once, his annoyed expression from before back in full force.

He looked like he was about to order her to shut up but for some reason changed his mind and looked back toward the ship, barking an order. "Sentinel, stand down!"

Sentinel? Who's that? she looked at the ship. Is there someone over there I can't see? Is it his robot girlfriend or brother or boss or... Is this the Dinozaurs?

Then she noticed some weird phenomena. A green like substance suddenly appeared around the ship and slowly melted away. Yume didn't know what it was but to her it looked like a giant glob of snot. When the stuff was totally gone the raptor started forward. Yume didn't want to go forward and tried to hold herself back, straining against the vice-like grasp he had on her arm.

The robo-raptor felt it and looked over his shoulder at her, growling softly and showing rows of jagged white teeth. "Come on!" he ordered.

"No!" she exclaimed, trying her best to hold herself back. "I won't go! You can't make me!"

"I do not have time for your games, girl!" he growled at her. "Now you either come along willingly or I am going to drag you!"

"No!" she screamed, still holding back.

He growled at her then started moving whether she wanted him to or not. She forced herself to become dead weight and went limp, falling onto the ground. He didn't seem to notice and kept going, dragging her across the ground and over rocks. It didn't take long for her to realize going limp was hopeless, he wasn't even slowed down by her weight at all, but now that she was on the ground, she couldn't get back up. A few seconds later he let her go and she dropped to the ground. Now was her chance to get away, but when she stood up to run he grabbed her arm once again and kept her from going anywhere.

"Let me go!" she shouted, trying to wrench free. "I don't want to go in there! I won't be food for you and your army!"

"I AM NOT GOING TO EAT YOU!" he shouted at her. "Now shut up and hold still!" He pulled her back and she smacked into his chest armor plate. She grunted in pain but didn't bother trying to get away again.

She heard a metallic noise and looked up to see some kind of elevator thing come down from the ship. When it reached the ground, Roboraptor, as she began to call the robot, stepped back and drug her onto it. Before she knew what was happening the lift rose back into the ship, taking both of them with it.

Optimus Primal was ticked. He'd been trying to reach Dinobot for the past half hour but the raptor was either refusing to answer or something had happened to him. Optimus hoped it was the former but, if it was, the Predacon traitor had better have a good reason for not answering.

"Don't worry about it, Big Bot," Cheetor said, leaning back in his chair at the control panel. "I'm sure he has a good reason."

"He'd better," Optimus said, tapping away at the computer keys. "I don't need him disappearing on us. He was in a very important position."

Just then the two heard the elevator whirring and turned toward it just as it lifted into the base. They saw it was Dinobot, he was back but...

Cheetor noticed something else. "What is that?" he exclaimed, pointing at a figure standing beside him.

Optimus stared at Dinobot's captive, his mouth hanging open. It was a girl, a human girl with Asian features with black hair tied back in a pony tail and grey eyes. She wore a pair of knee high leather boots, short blue jeans and a sleeveless black T-shirt with the word "Jerk" written across the front in purple glitter. Her eyes seemed to bug out when she stared up at the other two robots and Optimus could tell she was afraid of them.

"It's okay," Primal said soothingly, kneeling down to her eye level, since she didn't seem to be much taller than Rattrap. "We're not going to hurt you."

The look she gave him told him she thought otherwise and the Maximal leader began to wonder what Dinobot did to her while bringing her there. "Where did you find her?" he asked, looking up at the raptor. "Where did she come from?"

Dinobot made that growling sound and said, not very helpfully. "From the sky."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Cheetor asked, getting out of his chair.

"I mean she fell on me," he answered, looking at the cheetah transformer. "I think she was being chased by Megatron's scouts."

"What makes you say that?" Optimus asked.

"Because after she fell on me I ran into Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Tarantulas," the raptor replied. He looked down at the girl and she seemed to shrink under his stare. "For all I know they could have just been playing with her."

"Playing with her?" Optimus asked. He looked at the girl who looked up at him and fell backward, banging her head against Dinobot's leg in the process. "Ow!" she moaned, grabbing her head.

"Are you okay?" the boss monkey asked.

"Y-yes," she said, rubbing her head. She looked up at him and pointed a shaking finger at him. "But you-you stay away from me!" she pointed at all of them. "All of you just stay-stay back. I know karate!" She didn't actually know karate but they didn't know that.

"We're not going to hurt you," Optimus told her, very gently. "We're your friends."

"Friends that want to eat me," she said, her voice getting quieter.

The leader looked at Dinobot. "What have you been telling her?" he asked.

"Nothing!" Dinobot said, indignantly. "She has been saying words like that since I found her!"

Optimus looked back at the girl who scurried backward and right under Dinobot's legs. "Hmm... it seems she's had a traumatic experience before you found her," he observed. "I wonder what the Predacon welcome was like for her...?"

He got down on his hands and knees to see her through Dinobot's legs. The raptor didn't appreciate the position and moved out of the way, giving Optimus full view of the frightened girl. "We're not going to eat you," he said. "We won't hurt you either. There's no reason for you to be afraid of us. We can help you."

She looked up at him again, her legs tucked up to her chest. He could tell by her eyes that she still didn't believe him.

"If we wanted to kill you we would have already done so," he tried to reason with her. "Don't you think?"

She didn't move. She seemed to be thinking about it. She closed her eyes and crossed her arms, tucking her legs closer. Is that thing really telling me the truth? she wondered, Will he not hurt me? He is right about one thing. If he or Roboraptor wanted to kill me they would have done so already... Maybe... She opened her eyes and looked right at him. "Who-what are you?" she asked, her voice a little louder than before.

"I am Optimus Primal," the robot explained. "I am the leader of the Maximals."

"Maximals?" she asked, looking at the three robots in turn. "Is-is that some kind of animal robot?"

"In a way," he replied.

She nodded, not sure what she should ask next. She locked eyes with Cheetor and, when he noticed, he smiled at her and waved. "Hi!" he said in a very friendly voice. "My name's Cheetor. What's yours?"

By now she was feeling a little braver but was still intimidated by Dinobot who was also staring at her. She tried to ignore his probing and suspicious red eyes as she said quietly. "Yume Akamoya."

"Pleased to meet you," the cheetah robot said. "If you ever want to see the best places around here I'm you cat."

"Uh huh," she said, not sure what he was talking about. "Thanks anyway."

"You can get up," Optimus said gently to her. "You're among friends."

"O...kay...," she said wearily eyeing Dinobot as she stood up. Once on her feet she wiped dust off her jeans and stammering unintelligible words as she did so. Oh my god! I'm amid friendly robots with weird names and I think that yellow and blue one is hitting on me! Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!

While she wiped herself off and mentally freaked out about being hit on by a robot, Optimus asked Dinobot. "Why did you bring her here?"

"I thought you might know what to do with her," he replied. "Her looks tell me she is not from here or this time period. Besides, " he looked over at the girl who saw him doing so and shied away. "I did not think you would want the Predacons to have her, would you?"

"No," Optimus admitted. "I'd hate to imagine what they would do if they brought her to Megatron. But, " he put a finger to his chin. "How did she get here in the first place?"

About that time Rattrap came in in his animal form. When the girl noticed him, she screamed and ran into the open CR chamber.

"Whoa!" Rattrap said, putting his little hands to his ears. "What the slagen' was that?!" He scurried toward the CR chamber and peaked inside. Yume screamed again and kicked him in the face. "Yeowch!" the rat exclaimed, backing away holding his nose. "Jeez! Where did you find that thing?"

"Dinobot found her in Predacon territory," Optimus replied. "He said Terrorsaur and some others were after her."

"What?!" the rat exclaimed, surprised. "Why would Terrorsaur want to go after that thing?!"

"She's not a thing," Optimus corrected, slightly irritated. "She's a human."

"A human?!" Rattrap was surprised at this information and changed into robot mode. "That's a human?" he walked back to the CR chamber. This time Yume didn't try to kick him, she just stared at him and whimpered. "Oh God. The rats on this planet can talk and transform too!"

"Hey," he exclaimed, looking back at Optimus. "It is a human but..." he scratched his head. "What's a human doin' here?"

"I was hoping she might be able to tell us," the leader replied. He walked over to the CR chamber and peeked inside. "You can come out," he said soothingly. "Rattrap won't hurt you."

"I hate rats!" she exclaimed, holding back. "Especially big, talking, smelly ones!"

"Hey!" Rattrap exclaimed. "I don't smell that bad!"

"Don't worry about it," Optimus prompted. "Rattrap might smell bad and talk too much but he won't hurt you."

"Are you sure?" she asked, her voice weary.

"I'm sure," Optimus gave the rat a look. "Right Rattrap?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever ya say, Boss Monkey." he said shrugging.

"See," he said, looking back at the girl.

"Okay..." the girl said and decided to chance it, slowly making her way out of the chamber. When she could see Rattrap he smiled nervously and waved at her. "Hey!" he said.

"Hi...," she said, keeping her distance.

Optimus went over to the control table and beckoned her over. She quickly scurried over, avoiding both Rattrap and Dinobot. When she was over by Optimus and a safe distance from the other two transformers, she loosened up a little but still acted as if she would be attacked by something any minute.

"Yume," the Maximal leader said, getting the girl's attention. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes," she said, nervously.

"How did you get here?"

She blinked. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"How did you wind up on this world?"

She shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know," she replied. "One minute I was in the park in New York City and the next minute I was here."

"Did you run into anything strange while you were there?" Optimus asked. "Like a time warp or something?"

The girl shook her head. "No, but," she took off her backpack and reached into the pocket. "I did find this-" she held up the rubix cube.

Optimus took it from her and looked at it closely. "Hmmm..."

"What is it, Big Bot?" Cheetor asked, leaning forward.

"I'm not sure," Optimus said, setting the object on the table. "I'll have Rhinox do a scan of it later." He looked at Yume. "Until then I think we should try to make our guest feel comfortable."

"Yeah. Good idea," the cheetah agreed. "Come on," Cheetor said, getting out of his chair and putting his hand on Yume's shoulder. "I'll show you around."

By then she was feeling a little less scared and nodded. "O-okay," she said, following him out of the control room.

Optimus watched the two leave the room then he turned to Dinobot. "I'm glad you thought to bring her here," he said.

Dinobot made that sound again. "I thought it would be a wise idea," he replied. "If Megatron had found her he would have used her for more... sinister purposes."

"Then I hope he doesn't find out about her."  
\-------------------  
"What? You found a human?" Megatron exclaimed in surprise when Terrorsaur, Waspinator, and Tarantulus reported in.

"Not just any fleshy-bot," Wapinator said. "A female fleshy-bot."

"Where?" the Predacon leader asked, leaning forward in his chair with interest. "Where did you find her?"

"Around Sector 7," Terrorsaur replied, pointing at the spot on the digital map. "She seemed to be lost and was just wandering around."

"I could have captured her if Terrorsaur here hadn't of tried to kill her," Tarantulas said, glaring at the flying dinosaur robot.

"I wasn't trying to kill her!" Terrorsaur protested, seeing the look on Megatron's face. "I just wanted to scare her!"

"Scare her my aft!" Tarantulas shouted. "You wanted to kill her, you trigger happy-"

"Enough!" Megatron interrupted. "You didn't kill the human so where is she?"

Terrorsaur and Tarantulas didn't answer but Waspinator did. "Lizard-bot protected female fleshy-bot," he answered, seeing no reason to keep that information from their leader. "Lizard-bot take female fleshy-bot to Maximal base."

"Idiot!" Terrorsaur shouted, whacking Waspinator over the head. "You weren't supposed to tell him that!"

"Why not?" Waspinator wanted to know. "Megatron would have found out anyway!"

"Yes, I would have," Megatron agreed,cutting in before another argument broke out. "So not telling me would have made no difference, no."

"So what are we going to do about the human?" Terrorsaur wanted to know.

Megatron leaned forward and steepled his fingers. "Let the Maximals have her, for now," he said. "When I decide it's time to use her then we shall take her from them, yeeeeeeeeeees."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"And this is my room," Cheetor said, pressing a button that opened a door. "Pardon the mess."

The girl peeked inside the room, noticing what looked like spare parts littering the floor, as well as a picture frame with a picture of Optimus and Cheetor in it. She noticed, like most of the rooms on the ship, this one looked dark and gloomy as well, even though the light was on. She wanted to say something about it but refrained from saying anything, lest she offend the cheetah robot who was already going out of his way to be nice to her. Why is he even bothering? she wondered. I'm not worth it. I'm just a girl. He shouldn't waste his time. I bet he has other, more important things he'd rather be doing right now.

Cheetor noticed the sad look on her face. "Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Uh," she said, looking up at him. "Nothing that's important... I was just wondering..." she sighed. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" he asked, confused.

"Showing me around your base," she replied, looking at her feet and rubbing her left arm. "I'm sure you have better things to do than show me around and-"

"Hey," Cheetor said, cutting her off. "Where did that come from? I'm showing you around because I want to."

"But why?" she asked, playing with her hair tie. "I'm not worth the effort."

"Don't think like that," the cheetah said, causing her to look up at him. "You keep thinking like that and you might start hurting yourself. I don't know where you got ideas like that but everyone is worth something, you got me?"

"I- I guess so," she said, nodding. "But it's just that where I come from everyone either ignores me or thinks low of me. Even my parents think of me that way."

"Well they are wrong," he told her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know I just met you but I can tell you're someone special. Got that?"

"I guess," she said, not believing him. "Though I don't feel special."

"You don't have to feel special to be special," he told her, smiling. "Just remember that the next time someone thinks low of you."

"O... okay," she said, smiling slightly, "and thanks.."

"No problem," he said. "Now," he closed his bedroom door. "Let's get on with the tour."  
\-------

Rhinox had arrived back from monitoring a nearby area a few minutes after Cheetor had walked out of the control room with Yume. Dinobot and Rattrap had also taken their leave soon after, going back outside for whatever reason they had that was only important to them. Optimus had showed Rhinox the object that had taken Yume to that time period and asked him if he could scan it and see what it was made of and what it could do. The rhino agreed instantly, setting the object on the scanner and typing in some codes. A blue print of the image appeared on the screen and the two robots leaned close for a better look.

"Hmm," Rhinox mused, putting his index finger to his chin.

"Do you know what it is?" Optimus asked.

"It seems to be some kind of time travel device," the rhino replied. He tapped away on the keys. "But that's about all I can find out about it. Whatever else it is or does it's a mystery."

"Hmmmm," Optimus mused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Can it be used again?"

"Not anytime soon," Rhinox replied, shaking his head. "When it transported that girl here the trip used up all it's power."

"So it can't be used again?"

"Well not in the near future but it can be used again." Rhinox looked up at the Maximal leader. "Is there something wrong?" he asked when he noticed the look on the other robot's face.

"No, not really," Optimus replied. "I'm just not sure that human girl is going to like hearing that she's stuck here."

"Well we have to tell her," the rhino said, turning his chair around. "If we don't we won't be making anything easier for her."

"I know. I just hope she doesn't take it too hard..."

Rhinox noticed that wasn't the only thing bothering his friend. Something else was on his mind. "May I be so bold to ask what else is you're thinking about?" he asked.

"It might not be important," Optimus said. "and it might not even be worth it, but if that girl is going to be stuck here for the next few days I don't think it will be wise for us to keep her out of our sight."

"You're worried that the Predacons might come after her," Rhinox said, as if reading his friend's mind.

"Yes," Optimus answered. "So I was thinking that we should give her some kind of guard. I think one of us should be in charge of keeping an eye on her and making sure she won't fall into Predacon hands."

"Who did you have in mind?"

Optimus thought for a moment. "We'll have to chose someone who can watch her but also defend her if attacked or get her out of harm's way easily if they're forced to flee..." the Maximal leader started out of the control room. "I'll have to do some thinking before I can tell you for sure..."  
\-------

"Oh before we head back to the control room I just want to show you one more thing," Cheetor said, remembering something.

"What?" Yume asked, curious about what it could be.

He led her down another hall and to another bedroom door that looked just like all the others. "Where are we?" the girl asked, staring at the door. "Why'd you bring me here?"

"I wanted to warn you about this room," Cheetor replied, pushing the button to open the door. When it opened the girl peeked inside. She saw a dinosaur pelt on the wall and what looked like a punching bag hanging from the ceiling, near the back was a desk with a computer on it. The girl looked back at Cheetor, a question in her eyes.

"I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" he said, laughing nervously. "Well this is Dinobot's room and I would advise against you going in there."

"Dinobot?" the girl said, thinking for a moment. "He's the robo-raptor isn't he?"

"If ya wanna call him that," he said, shrugging. "Yes."

"Well if he's who I think he is I-I wouldn't want to go in there anyway," the girl said. "He scares me. I'm afraid he's going to eat me."

"Well you don't have to worry about that," Cheetor told her. "Dinobot might not be the easiest person to get along with but he won't eat you. He might scare the slag out of you but he won't make you lunch. He's not as bad as you might think though. He's really an okay guy once you get to know him."

"He scares me," the girl said, turning from the room. "and I wouldn't want to go anywhere near him or his room so you don't have to worry about me sneaking in there and looking around."

"Okay," Cheetor said, pushing the button to shut the door. "I just wanted to warn you."

"Well thank you for that," she said. "now I know what area in here to avoid." she started walking away, her body hunched over slightly as if she expected Dinobot to appear from out of nowhere and chase after her. "We'd better head back..."

"Okay," Cheetor said. "By the way."

"Hmmm?"

"Why do you have "Jerk" written on your shirt?" he asked, pointing at the words scrawled in purple glitter. "Is it because you're calling yourself a jerk or other people?"

"Oh?" she said, looking down at her shirt. "I just like it. It's my favorite. It doesn't really have anything to do with what's written on it."

"Oh, I thought it might have another purpose..."

Yume giggled. "I wouldn't have the courage..."  
\----

Optimus came back into the control room a few moments later and Rhinox could tell by his expression that he'd come to a conclusion. "Have you decided who will watch her?"

He nodded. "I have," he said. "I gave it a lot of thought and I think I know the perfect person for the job." he stepped toward the computer screen. "See if you can contact Dinobot..."

Cheetor and Yume were only a few feet from the control room when they suddenly heard yelling coming from its direction. They stopped in their tracks and looked at each other. "What is that?" the girl asked.

"I will not be subjected to such a low grade mission!" a voice shouted in anger. "It is below a warrior of my skill!"

"It's not below your skill!" another voice argued back. "It's a very important job and you're the only one who has-"

"There are others you could have chosen for.. babysitting!" the other voice interrupted.

Cheetor recognized the voices. "Optimus and Dinobot?" he said. "I wonder what they're arguing about?"

Yume was wondering the same thing but didn't really want to be in the same room as Dinobot. "I'm not sure I want to know," she said, taking a step back.

"Why not?" he asked, looking at her. "I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with you and, if it does, I think it's important for you to know too."

"But-" she began.

"C'mon," he said, pushing her forward from behind. "It'll be fine. Maybe they found out a way to send you back to your time."

Yume doubted that but she went along anyway, wondering what exactly they were talking about. Roboraptor said something about baby-sitting... I wonder what he means?. When they stepped into the control room they found Optimus and Dinobot standing only inches from each other, both with angry but determined looks on their faces. Yume started to wonder what exactly they were arguing about and why babysitting would make someone so angry. 

Cheetor seemed to be wondering it too because he said. "Big Bot, what's going on?"

The two older robots looked over at the cheetah and, spotting him and the girl, moved away from each other to more respectable distances. Dinobot glared at Optimus, who ignored him, as he spoke to Cheetor. "It's not really your concern but," he said. "I was just telling Dinobot that I'd chosen him for an important task."

"What kind of task?" Cheetor asked.

Optimus looked at the girl, who gave him a curious look. "It's about you," he said to her.

"Me?" the girl asked, putting a hand to her chest. She looked confused. "What about me?"

"It seems you will be stuck here for awhile," he answered, turning his full attention to her. "Rhinox examined that thing that brought you here and found that it's out of power for now and needs time to recharge. I figured you might need someone to take care of you to make sure the Predacons don't try to capture you."

"Predacons?" she said.

"The ones who attacked you earlier," Optimus explained.

"Oh," she said. Now she remembered. "But why are you making such a fuss over me? I can't be that important! I'm just a girl. Why would the Predacons want me?"

"It's because you're a human," Optimus told her. "If Megatron found out about you he'd do anything to get his hands on you."

But why? Why would this Megatron want me and what does me being a human have to do with anything? she wanted to ask the Maximal leader what he ment but decided not to. She had a feeling the explanation was too complicated for her to understand. And what does he mean by I might need someone to take care of me, and what does that have to do with Roboraptor over there?

"So who did you decide would be a good person to take care of her?" Cheetor wanted to know.

Optimus looked back at Dinobot who hadn't said anything since the other two had come into the room. "I want Dinobot to guard her," he replied. "But he refuses."

"It's below my skill as a warrior," the raptor protested, angrily. "I do not feel it is honorable to have my status lowered to that of 'baby-sitter'."

Yume stared in horror at Dinobot. So that's what he ment. He's been ordered to be my bodyguard but... he can't! I can't! No! No!

"You're not babysitting her!" Optimus informed him, irritated. "This job is very important."

"Then why do you not chose someone else to do it who needs the experience?" Dinobot demanded, looking over at Cheetor and pointing at the young Maximal. "I think he would do a better job at being watch carer of the human child!"

"No!" Optimus said firmly. "I chose you for the job because you know the most about Predacons and how they'd try to get to her if they attacked."

"That is a pathetic excuse for dumping the responsibility on me!" the raptor shot back.

"I'm not dumping it on you!"

"So you say."

"What?!" Yume exclaimed, staring at them. "You're doing what?"

All three robots stared at her. They saw her face was full of disbelief and fear. "Yume?" Cheetor said, worriedly.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she asked. "I can't- I can't! No! I won't do it! I won't let you do it!"

"Yume?" Optimus said in concern.

"I can't let you do it!" she shouted at him, pointing a shaking finger in his face. "You should have asked me first! But you didn't! Now I'm stuck with-" she didn't finish her sentence, instead she burst into tears and ran off.

"Yume!" Cheetor called, starting after her.

Optimus put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "Big Bot?" the cheetah asked, looking at his role model.

"Let her go," he said. "I think she needs to be alone right now."

"No," Cheetor said. "I think I know what her problem is." he looked at Dinobot. "She told me she's afraid of him!" he said, pointing at the raptor. "and now she's being forced to be guarded by him."

"She's not being forced to do anything," Optimus informed the cheetah. "It's for her own good. I don't want Megatron getting his hands on her. Can you imagine what would happen if he did?"

"Yes," Cheetor responded. "But you still should have said something to her before you decided on this. I'm sure she would have chosen someone else."

"Yes," Dinobot agreed, folding his arms. "Someone she will not think is going to make a meal out of her."

Optimus shook his head. He knew the two were both trying to make him change his mind about it. The Maximal leader did feel bad for Yume and her fear of Dinobot but he figured if she spent more time with him she'd get over the fear, besides, Dinobot wouldn't hurt her anyway. "My decision is final," he said, after a moment.

"But, Big Bot!" Cheetor began to protest.

"No!" Optimus cut him off. "I won't change my mind." He looked at Dinobot who growled in anger and annoyance. "The girl is your responsibility. Don't try to change my mind about it." he looked at both of them. "And don't bring this up again."

Dinobot slammed his fist against the wall. "Fine!" he shouted.

"Good," Optimus said, satisfied. "You may go now."

Dinobot growled. "There are times I wish I was still a Predacon," he grumbled as he went back into beast mode and stalked out of the room.  
\-----

Yume had found a small cubby hole to hide in and just be with her thoughts. She was not happy with the decision Optimus had made but what could she say? He was a big robot with a gun! He could blow her head off if he wanted to. She didn't really mind the idea of someone guarding her but, Dinobot? The one robot she feared the most? The one robot who didn't seem friendly or cheerful? Why would he stick me with a such a scary grouch? she wondered, playing with her black hair. He should have figured it would be a bad idea. Roboraptor hates me. I can tell. I know he doesn't want to be stuck with me as much as I don't want to be stuck with him. She sighed and pulled her knees closer to her chest. "I might as well just accept it," she muttered. "At least someone is showing concern for me for once..."

She heard footsteps coming down the hall and looked up. They seemed to be getting closer to her hiding spot so she cautiously peered her head out, wondering who it was. She spotted Dinobot coming down the hall. She gasped and pulled her head back into the cubby hole, hoping he hadn't seen her. As he walked by it didn't seem as if he had. She noticed he was clenching his fists and seemed to be angry about something. She wondered what was bothering him but didn't bother coming out to ask. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. When he walked by she peeked out again and saw him go into his room. When she was sure he wouldn't come out she pulled her head back into her hiding place and sighed.

"I hope Cheetor's right," she whispered, remembering what he'd said earlier about Dinobot being "really a nice guy", then crawled out of her hiding place and slung her backpack over her shoulder. "I wonder who else I'll see while I'm here?" she said to herself as she walked down the hall, away from Dinobot's room.  
\-----

Megatron had an assignment for Inferno the robotic fire ant. "Inferno," he said, taking the soldier aside. "I need you to do something for me."

"Anything, my queen," the ant said, eagerly waiting for his orders.

Megatron chose to ignore Inferno's rather awkward nickname for the Predacon leader and began. "I need you to go to the Maximal base and-"

"Say the word and they shall burn!" Inferno interrupted, holding up his flame thrower.

"No," Megatron said, correctively shaking his head. "Not any of that. I need you to watch the Maximal base."

Inferno was slightly disappointed that he couldn't make his enemies "burn' and asked. "Why?"

"There's something important I need you to keep an eye out for," Megatron explained. Then he spoke softly into the ant's ear, fully aware that Tarantulas was within earshot. When he was done he asked. "Understood?"

Inferno nodded and saluted smartly. "Yes, my queen," he said. "I shall not disappoint you!" then he turned from Megatron and flew off, laughing madly as he went.

Megatron shook his head and sighed. "I do wish he'd stop calling me that," he said in exasperation as Tarantulas chuckled softly in the background.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Yume was talking to herself. "Okay so here's how it is Yume," she began, as she walked down the hall, her black boots clanging softly on the metal floor of the ship. "You're going to be stuck here for who knows how long and you're not doing anyone here any good being all emo and stuff. You don't need to be a burden for them by acting that way and you really don't need to make things worse." she sighed. She was trying to tell herself to stop being depressed and questioning their kindness. They wanted to help her plain and simple.. "The last thing they need is that." she muttered referring to what she'd just said. She looked around herself. "I wonder if-"

"Hey there, Dreamgirl," a voice said behind her, startling her out of her thoughts.

Yume jumped and quickly turned around. Rattrap stood behind her with his hands on his hips. "Oh!" she exclaimed, dropping her backpack. It hit the floor and opened, scattering pencils, pens, make up, papers, a few thick books, and her sketch pad all over the floor. "Darn!" she exclaimed, getting down on her hands and knees to collect her stuff.

Rattrap watched her recollect her backpack's contents then noticed the sketchpad on the floor near his feet. He reached down and picked it up. He was about to give it to her then curiosity took over and he flipped it open, randomly flipping through the pictures she'd drawn, which mostly consisted of anime characters and a few robots. Hmm... she's pretty good. I wonder how well she could do me if I... he noticed Yume looking at him.

"Ummm...Can I have that back?" she asked, putting out her hand.

He closed the book and handed it to her.

"Thank you," she said, quickly stuffing the book into her backpack.

"So you like to draw, huh?" he said, leaning against the wall and folding his arms.

"Yes," she said, not looking at him as she stuffed her books back into her backpack. "It's the only thing I'm really good at. That and I can play the guitar."

"Hmm," he said. "And you like robots?"

She looked away, zipping the pack up. "Sort of," she said. "That was until I was attacked by them."

"So you don't like us robots now?" he wanted to know.

"Well... it's not like that," she said, waving her hands at him. "When I watched cartoons about robots I always liked the bad guys because they always came up with schemes that hardly ever worked and, when they did, something would happen and it would blow up in their faces." she smiled at the thought. "But there was usually one bad guy in the show that always had the good ideas and would always be ignored so he'd go off to do his own thing and well..." she shook her head. "I don't think I like the bad guys that much anymore."

"Well that's good," Rattrap said. "I don't think the Predacons would care if you told them you admired them."

"I don't admire the bad guys," she corrected him. "I just enjoyed the funny things they did and sometimes wished that for once they'd win."

"Why would you want the bad guys to win?" Rattrap asked in shock.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just felt bad for them that's all. They work so hard on their schemes and they never have anything to show for it." she shrugged. "It's a waste really."

Now that he had to agree on. It was a waste of time for the bad guys to put so much effort into a plan just to have it blow up in their faces. He noticed her staring at him. "What?" he asked, looking at himself. "Am I open somewhere?"

"No," she said. "I was just thinking that maybe you're not as scary as I thought you were."

"Hey you've got nothing to fear from me, sister," he said, waving his hands in front of him. "I'm not like certain bots I could mention. I know you're afraid of my beast mode, but I promise you I won't hurt you."

"Hmmm," she thought that over. She knew so far the Maximals had been honest with her about things, even the one she feared most, so it was very unlikely that he was lying to her. Besides, he doesn't look that ugly in beast mode. Just think of him as a mouse. He is kinda cute in that form so maybe... "Okay," she said. "I believe you."

"That's good," he said. "I wouldn't want you screaming and running away from me every time you saw me. That ultrasonic you do is bad on the ears."

She smiled slightly. "Sorry about that," she said. "I was just surprised that's all. I hope you don't have hard feelings."

"Naw," he said, putting up a hand. "Just don't do it again, okay."

She nodded.

"By the way," Rattrap said, stepping closer to the girl. "I heard Optimus gave ol' Dinobutt the responsibility of keeping an eye on you."

"Yes," she confirmed, pulling her backpack on. "Though I don't like it. That mutant gorilla knows I'm afraid of Roboraptor but he's not going to change his mind about it." she gave the rat a look. "Why? Why are you so interested?"

"Oh, no reason," he said, shrugging. "I was just wondering what old Chopperface's reaction to that was."

"He wasn't too happy either," the girl informed him, folding her arms. "That's one thing we both felt the same about. He doesn't want me to be his responsibility and I don't want him to be my bodyguard."

"Why not?"

"Because I hate him," she replied, looking away. "He scares me when he looks at me." she shivered. "I don't like his eyes."

His eyes? the rat thought. What's so scary about them? I could understand if it was something else that was scaring her, like his teeth, but his eyes? "Hey," he said. She looked up at him. "Don't let Chopperface get to ya. He's got issues."

"What kind of issues?" she asked.

"It's not my place to say," he told her. "If you want to know you'll have to ask him."  
\-----  
"Hey," Airazor the falcon said sometime later, when she returned to the Maximal base after scouting the area for any Predacon activity. "I heard Dinobot found a human today. Is that truth?"

"Yes," Rhinox replied, who happened to be the only one in the control room at the time. "He said she fell on him after being chased off a cliff by Megatron's scouting party."

"Where is she?" the falcon girl asked. "Is she here? I'd like to see her. I've never seen a human before."

"Yes, she's here but I don't know where," the rhino told her. "After Optimus told her that Dinobot was going to be her protection she ran off and we haven't seen her since."

"She's outside?"

"No, I think she's somewhere in the ship."

"Mind if I look for her?"

"Not at all," he told her. "I wanted to speak with her anyway."

"Okay." the bird girl headed down the corridor.  
\----  
Inferno arrived outside the Maximal base just as the Energon buildup started to short him out. He quickly returned to beast mode and scurried behind a rock and out of sight of any Maximals that might have been watching. He still wasn't exactly sure what he'd been ordered to do when he got there, besides keep an eye on the base, but whatever the reason was, if the royalty told him to do it, it had to be done and who was he to ask questions? He just did what he was told no matter how weird it seemed at the time. He had no idea what a human was anyway but Megatron had said he'd know what it was when he saw it because it would stand out. He decided just to wait for a better explanation and settled in to wait.  
\----  
Airazor found the girl pretty easily. The human was still talking to Rattrap when the bird girl saw her and decided to say hello.

"Hey there," she called, stepping forward.

The girl was startled by the new, more female sounding voice, and quickly turned around. She gasped when she saw the female Maximal and took a step back.

"Don't be afraid," Airazor said, putting up a hand. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a friend."

The girl let that sink in and loosened up. "Are you a bird?" she asked.

"Yes," Airazor replied. "I'm Airazor. What's your name?"

"Yume," the girl replied slowly.

"Nice to meet you," Airazor said, putting out a hand.

The girl stared at the hand a moment then put out her own and shook it. She was surprised at how smooth the female robot's hand was compared to the other robots hands. "Do you put lotion on your hand?" she asked.

"Huh?" Airazor asked, confused.

"Nevermind," the girl said. "So are you a girl robot? You sound like one."

"Yes, I'm female," Airazor answered.

"Wow!" the girl exclaimed. "I didn't think there were any female robots."

The fembot looked confused at that statement. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I always thought robots were just boys," she answered.

"I can assure you some of us are female," Airazor told her.

Yume got the feeling she'd offended the bird girl. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"That's okay," Airazor said. "You didn't offend me. It just seemed a little weird that's all."

"Sorry," the girl said again.

"By the way," Airazor said. "Rhinox wanted to talk to you about something."

"Me?" the girl asked. "What could he possibly want to talk to me about?"

"Let's go find out," Rattrap said.  
\-------  
Dinobot was still miffed as he came stalking out of his room sometime later. By then Yume, Airazor, and Rattrap had moved back to the control room and everyone else had also gone back to what they were doing. The raptor decided to go outside and get away from the Maximals and the annoying screaming girl. He headed for the control room, hoping no one would be there to bother him. Too bad for him Rhinox, Rattrap, Airazor and the girl were all in the control room discussing something. The girl was the first to notice him and gasped, stepping behind Airazor who turned around to see what had caused the girl to react the way she had. When she saw him she greeted him with a "Hey!"

Now the others turned to him as well. He didn't like the unwanted attention "What are you all staring at?" he demanded.

"Nothing much, Chopperface," Rattrap said. "Nothing much."

"Are you saying I am nothing?" the raptor demanded.

"You said it not me."

"Why you!"

"Stop it you two!" Rhinox ordered before the two started fighting in the middle of the room. He turned his attention to Dinobot. "What are you doing?"

"I was going out," the raptor replied. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No," Rhinox replied. "But we might need you to protect the girl if the Predacons attack and if you're out-"

"So I am to be confined to the base now?" he demanded.

"No, we just need you to stay here," Rhinox said. "You're responsible for the girl so-"

"So what?" he growled. "She is fine here. I doubt the Predacons will try to attack the base anytime soon."

"Dinobot..."

"Just do what you're told, Chopperface!" Rattrap ordered, walking up to the raptor and poking him in the face.

"Since when have you been given command over me, vermin?" the raptor asked.

"Since you started skipping out on your responsibilities, lizard-butt."

"I will not stand here and be insulted!"

"Then stand somewhere else."

That was the last straw. Dinobot transformed and grabbed Rattrap by the neck. "Say that again and-"

"Stop!" a female voice screamed.

The two robots looked down at the floor. Yume had stepped out from behind Airazor and was staring at them in horror. "Don't!" she said. "Don't hurt him!"

"Yeah, you heard her," Rattrap said, poking the raptor's head. "Don't hurt the rat!"

Dinobot glared at the girl who coward under his stare. Finally he sighed and let the rat go. Rattrap fell onto the floor and glared up at him.

"Dinobot," Rhinox said, hoping to compromise. "If you want to go out why don't you take the girl with you?" he suggested. "I'm sure she could use some air."

The raptor frowned, weighing his options. Be stuck in the base because of the girl or go out and ditch the girl when he had the chance. Maybe he could find someone to dump her on.

"Fine," he said. He beckoned the girl over. "Get over here."

The girl took a step back. Rhinox put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. "Go ahead," he said. "He won't hurt you."

She cast a doubtful look at the raptor but decided to trust them. After all they were being nice enough to care about what happened to her. She nodded and slowly walked over to him. He let her get on the elevator first then got on after her. She stood as far away from him as she could.

When the two were gone Rattrap looked at Rhinox and asked. "Are you sure that was a good idea?"

"I have no idea," the rhino admitted.

When the elevator reached the ground Dinobot got off and started walking. The girl started after him, staying a few steps behind. As they walked she looked at him in the sunlight, noticing just how tall he was. The next thing she noticed was his claws. Those things that could rip her to shreds as easy as slicing fresh baked bread. The third thing she noticed was his drill-like sword with the spinning blades. I hope he's not planning on using them anytime soon, she thought. "Where are we going?" she asked.

He growled and looked down at her. "No where," he answered.

"Then why are we-" She began but an explosion cut her off.

"What was-" Dinobot began but was cut off by a loud "FOR THE ROYALTY!"

Yume looked toward the sound and spotted a strange looking creature with colors of red, black, and silver holding up what looked like the biggest gun she'd ever seen. What in the name of Buddha is that thing?! she wondered.

"Predacons!" Dinobot exclaimed, also spotting the pyromaniac. He shoved the girl backward and she fell onto the ground as he pulled out his sword. "Get back in the base!" he ordered her.

He didn't have to tell her twice. That thing was still shooting at them and it didn't seem to care what it hit. Some shots got dangerously close to where she had sitting. She quickly scrambled to her feet and ran toward the elevator, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. As she ran she heard the most horrible scream of her life. It sounded like a person in eternal torment. She looked over her shoulder, worried what she might see. To her surprise it was the strange red monster that was making that banshee noise and he wasn't even hit!

What in the world? Is that thing insane?! she wondered.

Suddenly she saw the strangest thing happen to the monster. His rear end opened and he was flying. What the heck? He started flying toward her, this time laughing madly. The sight scared her even more than Dinobot had when she'd first seen him transform and she screamed almost as loud as he had before and ran faster, cursing herself for wearing high heels. Dinobot seemed to know what the thing was going to do and shot a line of green laser fire after it. The tail end hit the thing's propellers and short circuited them. The red creature was suddenly falling toward the ledge and screaming that scream again.

Yume stopped in her tracks and watched the red monster fall downward, trailing smoke as if it were a crashing airplane. It fell off the cliff and screamed for a whole minute before it splashed into the river below the base. Dinobot came up behind the girl and looked over the side of the cliff. He didn't see it anymore so he turned back to the girl and said. "We had better get back inside."

Yume nodded with total agreement. She wasn't sure she wanted to be outside anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Inferno finally got out of the river some time later and reported in to Megatron. When he told the "Royalty" what had happened Megatron cursed him up one ear and down the other. "You stupid, mindless, dirt shoving, son of a faulty drone!" the Predacon leader shouted so loudly Inferno wished he could rip out his intercom. "I told you to watch the base not shoot everything that came out of it!"

"But, Royalty, I spotted the traitor and-"

"I did not tell you to shoot Dinobot!" Megatron cut him off. "There will be a time and place for that later but today it not that day, no."

"I'm sorry, my Queen," the fire ant said, hanging his head in shame. "I shouldn't have let my faulty programming get in the way of my mission."

"Forget it," Megatron said with a sigh. "It's not important now, no. Just go back to the base and this time don't shoot the first thing you see!"

"Yes, Royalty," the ant said, glad that he'd been forgiven so easily. The ant got up and flew back to the Maximal base.  
\----  
Megatron had the feeling Inferno might not be able to control himself again so he summoned another one of his minions to go and keep Inferno in line for him.  
\-----  
"What?" Optimus exclaimed, after Dinobot and Yume had related what had happened. "You were attacked by Inferno?"

"Yes," Dinobot replied. "He must have been waiting for us to leave the base."

"How come you didn't see him earlier, Airazor?" the Maximal leader asked, looking at the falcon girl.

"He mustn't have been there when I got here," she replied, shrugging and making a helpless gesture. "If he had been I would have dealt with him." she gave Optimus a look. "But what was he doing out there in the first place? It isn't like Inferno to just do things by himself."

"I think Megatron ordered him to keep on eye on the base."

"What for?"

Optimus looked at Yume. "Incase we let a certain human girl go outside," he replied.

"Me?" the girl asked surprised."Why would that demon want me?"

"He doesn't," Optimus replied, knowing she was referring to Inferno. Her choice of words for the mad Predacon were odd but fitting. "If he had his way, Inferno would have killed you. Megatron must know about you and, if he does, my reason for giving you a bodyguard has been proven."

Yume said nothing, she looked away and played with her hair. So now he's got a good reason, she thought. if he's right and this Megatron is after me then I'd better appreciate what they're doing. Megatron must be a real nasty character if he sent that demon to come after me. "What's going to happen now?" she finally asked, looking back at the robots.

"I think it would be a good idea for you to stay in the base," Optimus told her with certainty. "It's probably the safest place for you to be right now."

Yume didn't argue with him about that. She figured that was true since the base seemed to have some kind of shield surrounding it, thus protecting it from any kind of damage if attacked, or so she hoped.

Dinobot seemed to like the idea. "So I guess this means you will not be needing me anymore then," he said, his voice help a hopeful note

"Negative," Optimus told him.

"What?" the raptor said surprised by the answer.

"We'll still need you to guard her incase of attack," the Maximal leader replied. "If the shield fails and they somehow manage to get in we'll need you to protect her."

Dinobot frowned. He opened his mouth to say something then seemed to change his mind. Without a word he turned from the others and stalked out of the control room, muttering darkly. Optimus shook his head then looked at Yume. "I guess we'll have to find some place for you to sleep tonight," he said.

"No problem there, Big Bot," Cheetor said, putting a hand on Yume's shoulder. "She can stay in my room."

"That's very nice, Cheetor, but I was thinking she could stay in Airazor's room with her," Optimus said. He looked at the girl. "I hope you don't mind."

She shook her head. No she didn't mind. If she stayed in Airazor's room she wouldn't feel awkward. After all; Airazor was a female robot so maybe they could talk about things she couldn't talk about in front of the other robots. "It's okay," she said.

Optimus looked at the bird girl. "You may go now," he said, yawning. "I think we all should get some sleep now."

"All right," Airazor said. She put a hand on Yume's shoulder. "Come on. I'll show you my room."

Airazor's room looked just as gloomy as the other rooms but at least the falcon girl had made an attempt to spruce it up a little. Though it looked like it was hardly ever used, the room had a more feminine touch to it than the other rooms, namely dried flowers on the shelves. "You can have the bed if you want," Airazor said to the girl.

"But where will you sleep?" she asked, looking up at the female transformer.

Airazor smiled. "Don't worry about that."

"But I couldn't!" the girl protested. "The bed is yours and-"

"Go ahead. I'll be fine," the bird girl assured her.

"Okay," the girl said, nodding reluctantly. She sat down on the bed, hich was just a hard metal slab protruding out of the wall, and opened her backpack. She pulled out her pencil and drawing pad and found a clean sheet of paper. She put the eraser in her mouth and thought hard. Now what did that demon with the hellgun and ass blaster look like? she wondered, trying to remember the few details she'd seen. For some reason she felt like drawing the thing. She wasn't sure why but maybe it had reminded her of something. She couldn't remember enough details though so she started drawing Airazor. A few seconds later she looked up to see Airazor watching her.

"Um...," she said.

"What are you doing?" the bird girl asked.

"Umm drawing something," the girl answered.

"What?"

"You." she showed Airazor what she'd drawn so far, which was only a rough sketch of the falcon's head and upper body. "It doesn't look that great because the light in here is bad," she said, embarrassed.

"No, it looks fine," Airazor told her, taking the sketch so she could get a better look. "It looks almost exactly like me," she handed it back. "But my head's not nearly that big."

"Eh?" the girl looked at her sketch and realized she had accidentally inflated the bird girl's head. "Sorry," she said erasing it. "I'll do it over." she started to re-sketch the head.

"So you like to draw?" Airazor asked, sitting down beside her.

"Yes," the girl said, nodding, not looking up from her work. "When I was younger I had a hard time learning to read so when the stress got too great for me I'd draw to relax myself. Back then it was just stick figures but I think I've improved pretty much since then. " she sighed. "Now my drawing is just a form of escape."

The falcon cocked her head. "Escape?"

"In a way it's my only way to leave the real world for a short amount of time and just retreat into my own world." she shook her head. "I know it's foolish and I should learn to face the real world but sometimes I fear reality. At least in my own world I can say and do what I want without people looking down upon me." she sighed and set the paper down. "I'm sorry. I doubt you care what I'm talking about. I won't say anymore."

"No, it's okay," the bird girl said. "Sometimes it helps to tell your problems to someone."

Yume smiled. "Yes, sometimes it does," she said. "I just wish I had someone to tell them to."

"Well you have me," Airazor said, putting a hand on the girl's shoulder. "If you ever want to talk about anything that's bothering you I'll be here to listen."

Yume nodded. "Okay," she agreed. "Thanks."

"No problem," Airazor said, patting the girl on the back. "Now I think you'd better get some rest. I'm sure you're tired from all that's happened to you today."

The girl nodded. That was true. She yawned and lay down. It wasn't long before she'd fallen fast asleep.  
\----  
Yume was running from a demon with a giant flamethrower. His insane laughter echoed hauntingly around her as she fled, her screams bouncing back at her and adding to her terror. Suddenly she was falling. She didn't know when that had happened or how; all she knew was that she was falling. Then she landed on something that bounced under her. She tried to get up but found she couldn't. She heard more laughter and looked around herself, spotting eight eyes staring at her in the darkness. As they got closer she saw they belonged to a giant spider. She screamed and tried to get away from it but she realized she was stuck in a giant spider's web. The spider got closer and as it faced her its head suddenly transformed into that of a raptors. It opened its jaws...  
\-----  
Yume woke in a cold sweat. She sat up instantly and then just froze, listening to sounds around her but only hearing the insane pounding of her own heart. She didn't remember her room ever being this dark before and as her eyes adjusted she realized she wasn't in her room. As confusion suddenly changed to remembrance her heart slowed down and she could breathe again. "Just a nightmare," she told herself. "It was just a dream..."

She lay down and tried to get back to sleep then realized she had to go to the bathroom and sat back up. She sighed and got off the cot, grabbing her backpack and tiptoeing past Airazor who was sleeping with her back propped against the wall, attempting not to wake her. The door opened with a soft whoosh and she stepped into the hall.

"Now," she said, looking around the dimly lit hall. "Where is the bathroom, if they have one that is?"

She started down the hall, keeping an eye out for those little male-female signs.

A few minutes later she began to realize there weren't any. "What did I expect?" she asked herself, leaning against what she thought was the wall. "They're robots. What do they need bathrooms for? What kind of waste would they have to dispose of..." the thought made her shiver. "I don't wanna know."

Suddenly she heard a strange noise and froze to listen to it. It sounded like heavy breathing. What is that? Where is it coming from? a horrible thought came to her. It sounds like a monster! Oh no! That demon has come back! She looked around herself as terror gripped her but didn't see the thing anywhere. Where is it? She slowly started to scoot down the hall, keeping her back against the wall. Well wherever it is I won't let it get the drop on me-

Suddenly her hand hit something and the wall behind her opened. Before she could regain her balance she was falling backward. The only thing she was able to accomplish was turning over and landing on her stomach. She found herself face to face with a sleeping Dinobot. She gasped and held in a scream as she slowly moved backward and scrambled to her feet. She stood in the hall a moment, staring at Dinobot's sleeping face. She didn't remember him transforming earlier but sometime during the night he had. He was now in his raptor form and curled up on the floor.

She started to wonder why he wasn't sleeping on his bed then realized he was too big for it. She also realized he had been the one making the noise she'd heard before and he looked kind of cute sleeping like that, all curled up on the floor like a kitten...

I'd better get out of here before he wakes up. she thought.

She turned and started to slip away. Too bad at that moment the one strap on her backpack undid itself and slipped off her arms. She grappled for it but it was too late. The pack hit the floor with a loud THUD! To make matters worse the pack opened and an opened can of face powder rolled across the floor and came to a stop just under the raptor's nose. One sniff and he sat up sneezing.

"AAAAAAACHOOOOOO!" he exclaimed sitting up. "Ah! What is that?" He rubbed his nose in an attempt to remove the powder from it. That's when he noticed Yume staring at him in horror. "What are you staring at?" he demanded.

"N-Nothing!" she gasped, stooping down to clean up her mess. "I'm sorry. I was just-"

"And what are you doing out of your quarters?" he demanded, standing up.

The girl babbled to herself as she picked up her stuff. "I'm sorry," was all he understood.

Dinobot noticed the face powder at his feet and picked it up. He sniffed it again and sneezed. "What in the Inferno is this?" he demanded.

"F-face powder," she squeaked, taking it out of his hand and shoving it into her backpack. "Oh no! I've spilled it."

He watched her clean up her mess and noticed how nervous she seemed to be. She refused to look at him and just kept her eyes on the floor as she cleaned up. When she was done she swung her backpack over her shoulder , stammering "I'm sorry for waking you up, Dinobot... I didn't mean to. I was just looking for the bathroom and-"

"Bathroom!?" he exclaimed.

"Yeah," she answered. "I have to go to the bathroom and I was looking for it."

"Why would you think we would have a bathroom in here?" he asked.

"I asked myself that too," she muttered, looking away from him.

"If you have to go you will have to go outside to do it," he informed her.

"I can't go outside!" she exclaimed, fear covering her face. "That demon might come after me again and, and, and-"

"Will you stop that?!" he demanded. "Why are you so nervous all the time?"

"Y-you scare me," she said honestly.

"I-oh." he shut his mouth. Oh yes. She said that before. How could I forget? He noticed she was doing some sort of dance and realized she must still have to go. Well I cannot have her doing it on the floor. The vermin will probably blame me for it! He sighed. "Come with me," he said walking past her.

She hesitated.

"Come on!" he ordered, looking over his shoulder. When she still didn't move he said. "I will not hurt you. Trust me, I have better things I could be doing. Would you rather go all over the floor?"

She still looked undecided but decided to trust him just this once and no she didn't want to pee on the floor. She followed him down the hall.

Dinobot led her into the control room and to the elevator. She hesitated a moment but then decided to trust him and stepped onto the elevator and rode it outside with him. Once there Dinobot pointed toward some rocks a short distance away. "Go behind those," he told her.

"WHAT?!" she exclaimed, repulsed. "I can't go on the ground! What do you think I am? An animal?"

He snarled at her as he turned his eyes toward her. "Do you have a better idea, girl?" he demanded.

Now that was one thing she didn't have. The Maximals had no bathrooms in their ship and she doubted those Predacons did either. She had no other choice and he knew it. Finally she looked away from his gaze and said. "Okay." then started over to the rocks, aware that he was watching her the whole time.  
\-----  
Inferno had just started to doze when he felt a tapping on his head. Instantly he was wide awake and would have made a loud noise if someone hadn't put a hand over his mouth. He looked up to see Blackarachnia standing over him. She noticed and leaned down. "Shhh!" she ordered, putting her other claw to her lips.

He nodded and she removed her hand.

"What are you doing here, spider?" he demanded in a low voice once he could talk.

"Megatron sent me," she told him.

"What for?" he asked, sitting straight up. "I can do this by myself."

"He sent me to make sure you control yourself," she informed him. "He told me that you couldn't resist blowing your cover to attack someone."

"It was an accident," he protested insulted.

"Sure it was..." She shook her head and gave him a smirk. "And," she began peeking around the rock they were hiding behind to get a look at the base. "It seems our target has just come out into the open."

"Where?" the ant asked, peeking around the rock and looking around. "What can I buuuurn?"

"Nothing, insect!" she hissed. "You can't burn anything!" she pointed to Yume who was just pulling up her pants. "You see that girl?"

Inferno saw the girl peeking around the rock. She seemed to be looking at someone he couldn't see. "The human?" he said.

"Yes," she replied. She spotted Dinobot on the other side of the rock. "Okay here's what we're going to do. I'll distract Dinobot and you grab the girl."

"Huh?" he exclaimed, looking at the black window. "Why can't I distract the traitor and youuuu grab the girl?" he poked her in the face with his finger.

She shoved his hand away. "Because you'll make more noise than I will," she told him. "You'll wake all the Maximals and Megatron doesn't want that. He wants this done as quietly as possible."

"Can I buuuurn the human?" he asked.

"No you cannot burn the human!" she told him. "Megatron wants her alive!"

Inferno was disappointed that he couldn't burn anything but since the Royalty commanded it he would obey.

"Okay," she said. "Let's go," she said, transforming into beast mode.

He followed her cue and did the same. The two silently made their way over to Dinobot and the girl.  
\-----  
Yume was just starting to come out from behind the rock when she suddenly felt a creepy crawly feeling come over her. She looked over her shoulder but saw nothing only rocks and the mountain in the distance. Huh? I could have sworn I felt-

"What is it?" Dinobot asked her, seemingly noticing her hesitate or feeling the same thing she felt.

She looked back at him and shrugged. "I don't know," she said coming toward him. Maybe I'm imagining it...

Suddenly she noticed something behind the raptor that he didn't seem to sense. She gasped and pointed. "Behind you!"

He turned around and got a foot in the face.

"Gah!" he exclaimed, falling over onto his side.

"Oh my god!" she exclaimed, taking a step back when she saw the thing that had hit him.

It looked like a black and gold female robot with black eyes that seemed to hold a void in them. Unlike Airazor this femme bot had a haughtiness about her. She saw the girl staring at her and smirked.

Dinobot didn't stay on the ground for very long. He lurched to his feet, transforming as he did so. He towered over the gold and black robot and thrust his sword at her.

The femme bot dodged the blow and back flipped out of his way. She landed on the ground and started shooting at him using the leg things on her arms.

Yume watched them fight, hoping Dinobot would beat the weird female robot. She took a step back to avoid any fire power from either bot and suddenly felt an arm on hers. She gasped as she was yanked backwards and an arm wrapped itself around her. The girl looked up to see the face of the demon from before staring down at her. Even up close it looked like a monster from hell and images of her nightmare came into her mind. She opened her mouth and screamed right into his face.

Dinobot heard and looked back at Yume. He saw Inferno dragging her away and forgot about the black widow, starting toward the fire ant and his captive. He didn't get very far before Blackarachnia shot him in the back with one of her venom darts. He fell to the ground snarling in agony.

"That'll teach you to turn your back to a widow," the spider girl said, walking up to the raptor.

Even poisoned he could still glare at her.

She cackled then kicked him in the face. She looked up at Inferno who had a tight hold on the girl. "Let's go," she said.

"What about the traitor?" he asked, looking down at Dinobot. "Surely the Royalty will want us to bring him along..."

Blackarachnia was about to correct him then stopped herself. An extra bonus... she smirked down at the raptor. "Why not?"


End file.
